After months long battle, New Fairfield man deported to native Guatemala

1 / 7

Back to Gallery

NEW FAIRFIELD — Joel Colindres, who was ordered to leave the country by the end of the month, has boarded a plane back to his native Guatemala.

Colindres’ attorney, Erin O’Neil-Baker, said Wednesday evening that he had left the country earlier that day in compliance with a deportation order issued last month. Colindres was ordered by immigration officials to leave the country by Jan. 31 after winning a temporary stay of an earlier deportation order last summer.

O’Neil-Baker said she and his family —including his wife, Samantha, a U.S. citizen and two young American-born children — will continue working on the appeals Colindres has pending in court to reopen his original order for removal.

“Samantha, his family and all of his supporters continue to fight to get him back as soon as possible,” O’Neil-Baker said.

Colindres had requested a stay on the second deportation order but learned Tuesday that it had been denied. His attorney, federal lawmakers and supporters had rallied over the last month to keep Colindres in the country while his request for asylum moves through the courts.

Related Stories

The family has created a second GoFundMe page to help pay for expenses created by his deportation, including his international phone bill, moving expenses and additional child care for the Colindres’ two young children. Another GoFundMe page has been raising money for the family’s legal fees.

When he first came to the United States in 2004, Colindrés has said, a mix-up with paperwork led him to miss a court date, resulting in an order for his removal. The order has created a barrier in seeking legal residency based on his 2010 marriage to Samantha.

Colindres has an appeal pending with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on his request to revisit the order of removal. The request argues that his life would be in danger should he return to Guatemala, where three of his family members were murdered in the last year.